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There's no place like home

For me, this fall has zoomed by in a blur of one trip after the other. As soon as I've unpacked my suitcase from one adventure, it's time to load it up for the next. In fact, to get a feel for just what my weekends have looked like in the last months, I decided to make a list. Here's a chronicle of my journeys:

Now, I love to travel, but this was a little over the top. For one thing, I've realized that I rely on weekends to keep the dust and grime in my home at bay. When I'm not there on Saturday or Sunday, the dirt mounts a full-scale offensive. I was finally able to beat it back into submission this last weekend, but the effort left me seriously exhausted.

I also need a quiet weekend morning here and there to keep on top of personal tasks and responsibilities. Because quiet mornings have been hard to come by lately, my last few sets of bills have gotten paid willy-nilly, and I have a couple of late charges to show for it. Plus, I'm two months late on renewing my vehicle tags. (If you happen to have connections to the Johnson County, Kan., DMV, please don't turn me in. I'm on it. But you can tell them it would help if the wait weren't usually two hours long with no evening options.)

If my personal life gets topsy-turvy when I'm on the road, I can imagine what it must be like for you to leave your practice for a few days—to come, for example, to a continuing education event such as the CVC in San Diego. Those hours away from your team members, your patients, and your family are precious, and we don't take your presence for granted.

Now, given my involvement in the practice management portion of the CVCs, I'm undoubtedly biased when I say that no other veterinary conference appreciates its attendees or treats them as well as we do at CVC. But I think it's true. After all, you didn't delegate that touch-and-go case to your associate so you could visit Mickey Mouse, throw coins in a slot machine, stand in hourlong lines, or wear blisters on your feet. No, you came to get stellar CE and be pampered a little bit. And that's our specialty.

So if you're looking at 2011 and starting to plan your trips, both business and pleasure, I suggest a cleaning service and online bill pay. And, of course, the CVC.